


Family Matters

by quicksiluers



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, Family Drama, Gen, takes place after 4x06, this hiatus is killing me why do we have to wait so long
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-18
Updated: 2016-11-18
Packaged: 2018-08-31 16:27:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8585638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quicksiluers/pseuds/quicksiluers
Summary: Looking back on it now…Gabe realized that his brother didn't express his emotions as freely as he once did. (One-shot, takes place after 4x06)





	

**Author's Note:**

> I forgot to post this one! Wrote it up right after 4x06 aired because I wanted to test out writing Gabe. I love Robbie and Gabe so much and man that episode...just really hits you, ya know??

Robbie’s attitude change should have been the biggest red flag.

For Gabe, there was two halves of his life. The first half was a bit rocky, losing his parents at a young age, clinging to Robbie like a lifeline. Moving in with their uncle Eli had been a big deal for the boys, unsure of what to expect. But they moved forward, and through all of those years, Robbie never changed. Even when he left school, much to the dismay of Eli, Robbie was still smiling. He always had a dumb joke to tell Gabe, something to tease him about, and he would gush about his love for their uncle’s Dodge Charger. Robbie was carefree; happy to be where he was, doing what he loved.

And then the accident happened. 

Gabe doesn’t remember a lot of it, blacking in and out from when the Good Samaritan saved them to waking up in the hospital. But he remembered the look in his brother’s eyes the first time he saw him, standing in the doorway of his hospital room. His eyes, which had always been so warm and inviting, had gone cold. And it was only for a spilt second that Gabe noticed this before Robbie walked over to him, kneeling at his bed side and apologizing over and over again, tears streaking down his face.

Life changed after that. He had to go through lots of physical therapy, adjusting to the wheelchair and the confines it had, but he made it work. He was happy to be alive, even if he couldn’t walk. Sometimes he would think back to that night and remember how still Robbie was. How when he would call out his brother’s name, Robbie wouldn’t answer. He could feel that fear swell up inside him, thinking his brother was dead. And when he saw Robbie move after the Good Samaritan went over to him, the wave of relief that rushed through him was freeing.

But his brother was changed. He didn’t smile as much as he use to, if at all. Looking back on it now…Gabe realizes that his brother didn’t express his emotions as freely as he once did. He wasn’t completely cold, still teasing Gabe about crushes or trying to lighten the mood, but there was something shut off about him. Something he didn’t want Gabe to see.

He started to notice Robbie leaving the house at night more after their uncle was arrested. Gabe put it up to him working extra hours to pay the rent. But then he started to notice bloodstains on his brother’s laundry. The first time he saw it, he brushed it off. But in the following weeks it became more and more frequent, and one early morning when Robbie came back and left quickly, Gabe noticed the blood in the sink.

He would watch his brother closely when he came home from work, looking for any difference in his body language that could be connected to an injury. But each time, Robbie didn’t show any signs of pain. His movements were different though, as much as he tried to hide it. Gabe would find Robbie pacing around the house, like a caged animal. He would wring his hands together, roll his shoulders, and crack his neck. Like he was trying to keep something at bay.

At first, Gabe thought maybe Robbie was racing again. Maybe he had become part of a gang. Hundreds of different scenarios ran through his mind, but he never mentioned it to Robbie. He didn’t want to pester his brother, knowing he had a lot of responsibility on his shoulders.

Even his darkest scenario couldn’t match what was actually reality.

* * *

 

Gabe stared out the only window in the room he was left in. Daisy had left him alone, mentioning if he needed anything to just hit a button by the door and she would come back. But he didn’t want to be around anyone right now. He kept repeating Robbie’s story in his head. He could still feel the heat of the fire that burned from his brother’s head when it transformed. It was all too much to take in, so many questions left unanswered. How could he face his brother, was it even his brother anymore? Gabe could feel the tears forming at the corners of his eyes and he angrily wiped them away, sniffling.

Outside the window, a flash of something white caught his attention. He could see some of the agents outside what looked like to be a staircase, he wasn’t sure. Had something happened? He didn’t know entirely about the mission, but he knew that his uncle was involved.

And that Robbie would have been down there.

A wave of fear washed over him and he quickly turned towards the door and wheeled out of the room. If anyone would know what was going on, it would be Daisy. He rolled down the hallway, looking in each room for her. It was a bit funny how just a few days ago, he had told her to never come near his brother again. And now he was the one seeking her out for help.

He spotted her in a lab and that fear in his stomach started to grow. Her face with lined with concern and she seemed to be trying to get in touch with somebody. He lightly knocked on the door, and she jumped, turning towards him.

“Gabe!” she gasped, “What are you doing here?”

“I saw something from the window, a flash of white light,” he said, rolling over to her, “I wanted to know what was happening.”

Her shoulders sagged, “You and me both…” she mumbled, turning towards the computer and tapping on the keys, “May and Mack just went back down into the facility to see what was happening.”

Daisy continued to tap on keys of the laptop, “I’ll try to radio them,” she turned on the speaker, “you can listen in…no use in hiding anything anymore, right?”

He nodded slowly, looking at the computer screen. It was a map of what looked to be the facility; some glowing orbs moving around it. He assumed that was the location of the team that was currently inside.

“Daisy,” a voice spoke through the speakers, “have you heard any word from Coulson?”

“Nothing Mack,” she replied, “I haven’t heard anything from Fitz either,” her eyes flick over to Gabe quickly, “Or….or Robbie.”

The silence felt like hours. Gabe started to wring his hands together, looking for anything on the screen. His brother had been down there. The frustration of the situation was quickly taken over with dread. What if something had happened to him down there? What if the last time Gabe saw him…the shame in Robbie’s eyes when he slowly transformed back. It couldn’t be the last time; Gabe wouldn’t let it be the last time!

“Coulson isn’t in the chamber,” a new voice came over the speaker, “Some of the boxes are unplugged, but he’s not here…and no sign of Eli Morrow either.”

“The only entrance they could have gone through is the one you and the team went through May…” Daisy replied, “If they were down there…you would have passed them.”

“Fitz isn’t in the control room,” Mack’s panicked voice came over the com, “There’s no sign of him…like he was never here…”

“There’s no sign of Reyes either,” May chimed in, “The hallway we left him in is empty.”

“There’s no sign of anyone…”

He felt like he had a piano dropped on him. That white light…it must have had something to do with why Robbie was gone, why Robbie was…

Gabe put his head in his hands, biting his lip. He felt Daisy’s hand on his shoulder, her saying something to him, but it was all noise. He felt like his world was falling apart.

If Robbie was gone, then the last thing moment he had with Gabe…it was anger and sadness. It was his little brother, who adored him so much, who loved him more then anything, devastated at what his brother did.

The last moment they shared…Robbie probably thought Gabe saw him as a monster. 


End file.
